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Announcer (00:00:00): It's time to think about the Bible like you never have before. This is Christian Questions. After this episode, go to ChristianQuestions.com to check out other episodes, Bible study resources, videos, download the CQ app and more. Today's topic is, "What Does God Promise Us as Christians?" Coming up in this episode; if we are living the sacrificial Christian life that God has called us to, then God is powerfully and personally present in that life. According to the Bible, he has a vested interest in us. So what does this mean? How do God's promises to true Christians work? Do they actually change our lives? Here's Rick, Jonathan and Julie.

Rick (00:00:41): Welcome everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over 25 years. And Julie, a longtime CQ contributor, is also with us. Jonathan, what's our theme scripture for this episode?

Jonathan (00:00:54): 2 Peter 1:4: "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust."

Rick (00:01:08): As Christians, our faith in God should translate into an unquestionable loyalty and trust. If God says something will be so, it is a guarantee that it will happen. While this deep faith in the word of God should bring a powerful comfort to our lives, it's also capable of bringing us serious doubts and concerns. Well, how can this be? If God is as good as His word, and He is, then where do these doubts come from? Well, they arise when we do not understand or misapply His word. They arise when we ourselves stand outside of the circle of God's protective providence and seek to claim promises not meant for us. In other words, God's promises to Christians are only meant for true disciples of Jesus. Now, this might sound like an excuse to some, but it is in fact a basis for how God's favor works in the lives of His true children.

Jonathan (00:02:10): It's easy to misinterpret God's promises, as we will shortly see.

Julie (00:02:16): Yeah, but all this sounds a little harsh. At Christian Questions, we are always emphasizing how the Bible teaches Jesus died as a ransom for all. But we're going to see how not all scripture applies to all people at all times. So you're saying, I just can't pull out a Bible verse and automatically apply it to me. I'm looking forward to talking about how God's promises for Christians actually work.

Rick (00:02:38): What does it take? So let's figure this out. What does it take? What does it take to be a True Promise Seeker from the Great Promise Keeper? We are talking about promises. Jonathan, let's go to Miriam Webster Dictionary. Get the word, let's define it in the English language.

Jonathan (00:02:57): A "promise" is "a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified." It is also "a legally binding declaration that gives the person to whom it is made a right to expect or to claim the performance or forbearance of a specified act."

Rick (00:03:14): So there's nothing surprising in that definition. A promise is something that you say will happen and it will, or you say won't happen, and it won't. It's putting something out there before it occurs, that can be counted upon. So now we want to take a look at scriptural promises.

Jonathan (00:03:33): As a verb, "promise" means "to announce upon, to engage, to do something, to assert something respecting oneself." This word gives us a sense of a focused intention before we take deliberate action.

Julie (00:03:46): In other words, stating your intent. "I'm going to do whatever." These aren't idle words. We are serious, we're intentional.

Jonathan (00:03:55): The second Greek word for "promise" is a noun that means "a self-committal." This word shows an unequivocal commitment to future actions.

Rick (00:04:04): And this word is unique. First of all, it's only used twice in the entire New Testament. And interestingly, these two uses are only used in relation to God's personal commitments. You said the definition is self-committal. Let's look at these two very specific scriptures. They're both in 2 Peter. First scripture, Jonathan, 2 Peter 1:4. This is our theme text:

Jonathan (00:04:28): "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust."

Rick (00:04:41): He granted us "His precious and magnificent" self-commitment, "precious and magnificent promises." This gives you a sense of, there's something enormous on the other side of the statement of whatever that promise or those promises may be. So that's what God has given to the true followers of Christ, so they may become partakers of the divine nature. You see this very, very, very strong commitment. Now, we go a few chapters later in 2 Peter, let's look at 2 Peter 3:13. Julie, why don't you take that scripture?

Julie (00:05:16): "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." And promises from God are facts that are often not yet completely understood or disclosed. But this one is curious, "a new heavens and a new earth." That's a really big promise.

Rick (00:05:34): And the interesting thing you said there is, they are facts that are not yet understood or disclosed. That's the way we want to be able to look at God's promises. It's a fact, you just don't know it yet. It's going to happen. You just don't see its evidence yet. But if He says it, it's a fact. So Jonathan, there are three Greek New Testament words for "promise," all very closely related. You talked about that first verb, "to announce." Then the noun, self-committal." The third one, what's the third definition?

Jonathan (00:06:01): Well, the New Testament Greek uses another noun translated into English as "promise." According to the Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon, this word means "an announcement; the act of promising; a promise given or to be given, and a promised good or blessing." This word focuses on the proclamation of a promise as a basis for sure and binding expectation. When God makes a promise, it is guaranteed to happen. We can have a sure hope and take comfort that the outcome will be exactly as promised.

Julie (00:06:36): We want to look at how God's promises work in relation to the big picture of His grand plan for mankind, namely the restoration of the relationship between God and man. We know that God foreknew Lucifer would rebel and Adam would sin. He knows everything. But before the earth was even created, God promised what would happen much later in time. He promised a grand plan. So it was as good as done.

Rick (00:07:02): So how do we figure that out? Well, first of all, God's plan, and therefore His promise, was in place long, long, like you said, Julie, long, long, long before our world even was. And there are several scriptures that corroborate that. We're just going to touch on one of those scriptures at this point because it uses one of these words for "promise" that we just discussed. And this is Titus 1:1-3:

Jonathan (00:07:26): "Paul, a bondservant of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior..." It's impossible for God to lie. When God makes a promise, He does what He says.

Julie (00:07:58): And that phrase, "promised long ages ago," the King James version translates that as "before the world began," so even before humanity existed. But what exactly is the promise that's being promised here? What is, Rick, this big grand promise that we're starting with?

Rick (00:08:13): Well, he's talking about in verse 2, and "the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago." So he is talking about eternal life. And when we, as we expand this, what we will find is that the biggest application of that eternal life is to every man, woman, and child who ever lived. That means that the promise for reconciliation, which we so often talk about, is included in this. Eternal life doesn't come without reconciliation to righteousness and to working within loyalty to God's word and God's way. So that's the thing; it's eternal life for all mankind. Now, how do we get there? Well, God plainly built the pathway for that promise. See, He makes promises, and then He builds pathways for those promises to come true. He's pretty smart when it comes to this stuff, let me tell you. It's pretty amazing. He built the pathway to fulfilling His promise through Abraham. Now we're going to take a look at just a couple of scriptures in Hebrews that talk about the promise to Abraham. So Jonathan, let's start with Hebrews 6:13-15:

Jonathan (00:09:19): "For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you. And so having patiently waited, he obtained the promise."

Julie (00:09:35): This was a huge promise God made that we refer to as the Abrahamic promise. It was given back in the book of Genesis. And God promised to make a great nation through Abraham. His seed, He said, would be like the "sand of the seashore" and "the stars of heaven." And the promise continued with, "In thee and thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." And that certainly hasn't come true yet, but God promised it, so we know that it will happen.

Rick (00:10:05): So Jonathan, let's go to Hebrews 11:11:

Jonathan (00:10:08): "By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised."

Julie (00:10:19): That's right. Abraham needs that seed in order to get to the "sand of the seashore" and "the stars of heaven." She's well beyond the proper time because miraculously, Sarah gave birth to Isaac when she was 90 years old.

Rick (00:10:32): That's miraculous right there, okay? Mic drop moment.

Julie (00:10:36): Mic drop. Yep.

Rick (00:10:36): And you see the grace of God in His promises. It's not just that He says things. It's that He says things, He creates paths for them, and these paths are full of grace and wisdom and power and justice and mercy and His love. It's everywhere that we look. So we've got Abraham as this basis, Abraham and the promised seed. God's promise arranged for Jesus to be the seed of promise. Now we know that Isaac is born as the seed of promise, but that there's a dual meaning there. And it's very, very plain when we go to our next scripture, which will be Galatians 3:16-18.

Jonathan (00:11:17): There's no doubt we're talking about the promise here. It's mentioned four times: "Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, and to seeds, as referring to many, but rather to one, and to your seed, that is, Christ. What I am saying is this: the Law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on Law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise."

Rick (00:11:57): So, promise, promise, promise, promise. That's what you have in these few verses in Galatians. And you have this, this is getting our attention. This word for "promise" is a powerful word, and it's showing us that God made these promises to Abraham and He put them in place, and He put them in place long before the Law covenant. Long before there was Moses and the Ten Commandments, there were these promises. And what the apostle is saying is, that Law came in to show the people a way toward God, but it didn't nullify what God said beforehand. Why? Because He promised it! And when He said all the nations, all the people of the earth will be blessed in his seed, He meant it. And yet you have just the Jewish nation being the promised seed. That shows you that there's something bigger coming at the end. So we have to see how the Law played a part, but it wasn't the end result. It was just another pathway that God would use to make His plan work.

Julie (00:12:51): The Law was put in place temporarily until Jesus came in order for the people to have an acceptable way to God during that intervening time period.

Jonathan (00:13:01): And this is validated by the announcement by the angels to the shepherds at the birth of Jesus. The angel said, "I have good news of great joy to all people." The Abrahamic promise says, "all the nations of the earth shall be blessed." No one is left out. Jesus's sacrifice was enough. It breaks my heart that some brands of Christianity don't believe it was enough, and they have to go to men or organizations to receive salvation. How sad.

Rick (00:13:29): It is, it is. And when you realize the depth of God's promises, we have to be able to look beyond what maybe tradition tells us, because God's promises are bigger than Christian traditions. That's one of the things we need to understand here. In the grand scheme of things, Jesus as the promised seed brings eternal life and liberty to any and all of God's created ones who choose to follow. And again, the Abrahamic promise; you have the "stars of the heaven" and "the sands of the seashore;" the spiritual seed of Abraham (Christ and the church) and the "sands of the seashore," the physical seed of Abraham (the nation of Israel). And what do they do? They bless all the families of the earth. So everybody has part in the blessing. That was the promise. That's what was meant. That's what will happen. Let's look at 2 Peter 3:8-9:

Jonathan (00:14:20): "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

Julie (00:14:41): God isn't just hoping or wishing that all will come to repentance. That's His promise. So if this lifetime was the only opportunity for people to follow Jesus when billions died without ever hearing his name, then Christianity is a miserable failure, and God's promise is devastatingly worthless. But we know that is not true.

Rick (00:15:01): No, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not. It could not be further from the truth. So as we look at just this sense of God's word being His bond toward the future, when we want to look at and claim the promises, how do we look at being a True Promise Seeker (true follower of Christ) from the Great Promise Keeper?

Jonathan (00:15:27): God is as good as His word. The scriptures show us how His word, from before our world was, had already established an end result for eternal life, because God's word is His promise. He then executed His plan of the ages for humanity so that all either now or after resurrection, will have the opportunity for eternal life put before them.

Rick (00:15:53): Why? Because God promised. The magnitude of the faithfulness of God cannot be counted or comprehended by mere imperfect humanity. I mean, think about it. How blessed are we?

Jonathan (00:16:09): God is above reproach and impervious to contradiction. What does this mean for the promises He gives to the true Christians?

Rick (00:16:17): With such a magnificent God making these promises, there can be nothing but goodness and righteousness and grace in store for Jesus' disciples. And this is where we are going to focus now, on Jesus' disciples. However, as we shall soon see, this does not mean that our lives will always feel like things are in perfect order. Oh, no, no, no. On the contrary, we will see that the presence of turmoil and trial multiplies the power of God's promises. So just, spoiler alert, if you will, we are not saying that God's promise is going to take away your troubles. We are saying God's promises are going to have your troubles stay with you. How does that work? Well, let's unfold this.

Jonathan (00:17:00): Any and all promises given to the disciples of Jesus are only as a result of Jesus' own sacrifice.

Julie (00:17:08): That's a good point, because we know that no one who lived before Jesus was resurrected--they weren't promised or given a heavenly reward. But his true church, the bride of Christ, is comprised only of those who die after he did. And promises made to this group that we're going to talk about can't be applied to anyone else.

Jonathan (00:17:27): And placing scriptures in this proper timeline is crucial to understanding. Again, not every scripture applies to all people at all times.

Rick (00:17:36): And that's important. That's an important premise. That's an important concept. That's an important truth that we need to understand as we look at God's promises. So let's get back to Jesus. Because of his faithfulness, Jesus plainly assured his followers of a place for them with him and his Father. Spoken to his disciples the night before his crucifixion, here's what Jesus said in John 14:1-3:

Jonathan (00:18:01): "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

Rick (00:18:21): That is a powerful statement of comfort and focus for the future. "I'm going to prepare a place for you" so that you can be where I will be. And we're talking about the faithful Jesus here. Jesus then, several verses later, assured his followers of continual spiritual guidance in his physical absence because he was about to be crucified. They would still need to know how to follow and what to do. And so here's what Jesus says a few verses later in John 14:15-17:

Jonathan (00:18:52): And this is from the Weymouth translation: "If you love me, you will obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to be forever with you--the spirit of truth. That spirit the world cannot receive, because it does not see him or know him. You know him because he remains by your side and is in you."

Julie (00:19:15): I'm not hearing the word promise so far. I see what you're saying, that Jesus is offering these things. But is this a promise from God through Jesus for the true believers of Christ?

Rick (00:19:27): When you think about it, what did Jesus say about the words he spoke? He says, I speak the words of my Father. That's what he said. And so when you hear Jesus say, I will ask the Father and He will give you another advocate, the holy spirit, he is saying what the Father told him. So yes, this is an absolute unequivocal promise because Jesus is simply reflecting the words and the will of God. The fact that Jesus said he had asked the Father and the Father would give His spirit is expressing a promise of God. And we know that to be a fact when we go to the next scripture that we're going to take a look at. This is the night before his crucifixion. He goes through that night of trial and torment and torture, then he's crucified, and then he is raised from the dead. And then the day that he's going to ascend to the Father, forty days after that resurrection, here's what Jesus says. He gets his disciples together and here's what he says. And listen how he frames what he just said. Acts 1:3-5:

Jonathan (00:20:31): "To these he also presented himself alive after his suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Gathering them together, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, which, he said, You heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the holy spirit not many days from now."

Julie (00:21:01): Okay, so wait for what the Father had promised. So now we know when Jesus told his true followers they would receive the spirit of truth, God's spirit, Jesus relayed the promise even though he didn't use that word. So here in Acts, the disciples were supposed to leave Jerusalem, sorry, weren't supposed to leave Jerusalem because ten days later they would understand why. They were going to receive God's spirit (His power and influence) at Pentecost. And this is, I think in the Bible, the first promise to faithful Christians as a group. And it's a necessary first step in every Christian's walk, this receiving of the holy spirit.

Rick (00:21:37): Yeah. Yeah. This is where the promises to true Christians actually have the roots, the begettal or the receiving of God's spirit. At Pentecost, like you mentioned, marked a new age in which what is called in 1 Corinthians, a "new creation" would begin. And that is that spiritual life that begins in Christians when they're begotten, when they're given God's spirit. It was to this "new creation" that the Christian promises of the Bible are all directed.

Jonathan (00:22:03): So how do we know we've been given God's spirit? Do you have to speak in tongues and physically heal others in order to have proof?

Rick (00:22:11): No, absolutely not. When you look at the gift of speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, you see that they were for a time. How do we know that? Because the Apostle Paul said that plainly in 1 Corinthians. He said those are only for a time. That didn't mean the holy spirit stopped. It just meant those gifts stopped because now you had the word of God to replace it. So that's where we are working and focusing. We're looking at that more narrow focus of how the holy spirit works in us and what we are promised as a result of that.

Julie (00:22:48): How do these promises work, though? Are we given a free ticket to, let's just say, greatness, abundance, prosperity, happy times?

Rick (00:22:56): No.

Julie (00:22:57): No. We don't get that either. We can't heal, we can't speak in tongues, and we don't get abundance.

Rick (00:23:04): But, what we do get...here's what we do get. We get an assurance of God's providence in the midst of whatever chaos is in our lives. And I will tell you unequivocally, I will take any day, under any circumstance, an assurance of God's providence over anything else because that is the highest power that does exist.

Julie (00:23:27): What do God's promises promise?

Jonathan (00:23:30): We will first look at peace. Sometimes people read eloquent scriptures and claim their promises without understanding the details. At face value, this next promise seems to give a hundred percent chance for God's peace to successfully guard our hearts and minds. Let's listen. Philippians 4:7 says: "And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Julie (00:23:58): Hey, I don't have to worry about a thing. So if I just read this one verse, it sounds like everyone is promised the peace of God, but if that were true, there'd be no fear or anxiety in this world. Who specifically is promised this peace? What are the requirements to get it? I know Paul is writing to the believers of the church at Ephesus, and his letters were circulated throughout the established churches, but who gets it and how?

Rick (00:24:23): Well, in this particular verse to the Philippians, we have this very specific promise. Now here's the thing, and this is a documented fact, that the letters to the churches were circulated amongst the churches. They were copied and copies were sent here and there. Why? Because the words written to one group were for all groups. What was the qualification? Follower of Christ, begotten by God's spirit, doing God's will. That's who these promises are absolutely for. And it's not so simple as just having this, okay, God's peace is going to come and it's going to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus, and you'll never have another worry again. Let's take a look at the context. That's one of my favorite words. The context gives us a bigger picture of what needs to be in place for this promise of peace to work. So Jonathan, instead of reading just Philippians 4:7, let's read Philippians 4:4-7:

Jonathan (00:25:21): "Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Julie (00:25:45): Okay, I see. So it's not just free, instant, you get this peace. This unfathomable peace of God comes with these conditions. Rejoice always, even in the worst of circumstances. Have a gentle spirit and display it at all times. Don't be anxious. Pray constantly. In other words, live the peace of God whether you're in abundance or scarcity. So we have to comply in order to receive.

Jonathan (00:26:11): Many of the promises have some requirement or need effort on our part in order for them to be received.

Rick (00:26:19): It's important that we understand that there are qualifications. A promise isn't given and just sits out there and just naturally, you just suck it into you and all of a sudden you're transformed. We have to be willing recipients of that promise by essentially creating an environment where the promise can be planted. God's promised peace is a verifiable and attainable aspect of our lives if, and you see in this discussion on promises, there's always the "if," there's always the "but." Why? Because God's promises are so big and so powerful, they require us to reach up to them instead of just sit here saying, "Oh, just rescue me." If we let God's peace dwell in us, then it can. We have to let it. Colossians 3:14-16:

Jonathan (00:27:12): "Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." We have to claim the peace and do something about it. Just having a scripture on a mug or a t-shirt isn't enough.

Julie (00:27:44): It's a good reminder. But yes, you're right. It's not enough. You read, "Let the peace of Christ rule, and let the word of Christ richly dwell." To me that says the responsibility is on us. We have to put ourselves in the position where this promise of peace can live and grow. More of Christ, less of self. It's a matter of degrees, and we can even have the word of Christ dwelling in us, but is it dwelling richly? Are we giving it the space needed to completely take over like a vine that just grows everywhere?

Rick (00:28:18): And that's the point of God's promises. They are immensely powerful if given the opportunity to let their power expand and grow. That's what we really need to do. So as we look at these few New Testament promises, and we'll expand further obviously, let's take a quick detour and look at the Old Testament. God's promised peace had a place in the Old Testament as well. Just as in the New Testament, His peace does not come without our preparing for it and inviting it. It's the same principles. A couple of scriptures we'll take a look at--Isaiah 26:3-4:

Jonathan (00:28:54): "Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." Keep our minds on God, trusting God forever. Now that's how to have perfect peace.

Rick (00:29:12): Yeah. Where is your mind? Where is your heart? If it's where God's peace can work with it, wonderful. If it's not, okay, you need to adjust, because God's peace is waiting if we go to where it is. God's peace is available to God's people. Psalm 29:11:

Jonathan (00:29:33): "The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace."

Julie (00:29:38): Okay, but who are His people? We just flipped from the New Testament to the Old Testament. I want to make sure we're not appropriating promises to ourselves that were only made to the Old Testament recipients. How is this our peace?

Rick (00:29:51): So when we remember the Abrahamic promise, there are several ways to describe this. Let's go back to that, because it was a very simple thing. "I will multiply your seed as the sands of the seashore and as the stars of heaven." There are two parts to the seed of Abraham. We know that Christ is the seed. And then it says, "You are the seed of Christ and heirs according to the promise " if you are a follower of Christ. So the "stars of heaven" is first in Christ, and then to all of the followers of Christ. What that gives us is a basis for looking at these Old Testament scriptures because we're still with the people of God. And even before we were a people, the promises were put in place for the physical people (Israel) and then for the spiritual people. And so we have both of them operating. And when you have promises that talk about God's protection, God's spiritual abundance, God's giving us grace and wisdom and teaching, they apply both to physical Israel and to spiritual Israel. We don't want to take one without the other. There are some promises in the Old Testament that are just for physical Israel. How do you know? Because they're about land. They're about fruit. They're about cattle. They're about physical things. The promises in the Old Testament that have a sense of spirituality and growth in grace and knowledge and strength and so forth, those have a dual application. So that's how we know, that's how we know. So let's take a look at this. Let's wrap this up. We've taken a quick look at several promises and now we're beginning to get into the real meat of the matter. So being a True Promise Seeker from the Great Promise Keeper:

Jonathan (00:31:37): God has promised much to those who are called to follow Jesus, beginning with the begettal--the receiving-- of God's own power and influence in their lives. If this were the sum total of what He promised them, it would have added up to the greatest gift ever given to any human being. The amazing thing is, His spirit and the peace it brings are just the beginning.

Rick (00:32:02): Isn't that something? As grand as that is, it's like, oh, no, no, no, you have not seen anything yet! This is only the beginning of what God has in store for those who are called to follow Jesus. I mean, think about it. How blessed are we?

Jonathan (00:32:19): What about our trials? Can we expect that we will be delivered out of our trials if we have promises from God that tell us we will?

Rick (00:32:28): Well, the short answer to this is, absolutely! The longer and more complete answer to this is yes, but (there's that "but" again) but we need to clearly understand what kind of deliverance God has in mind. See, it's far too easy to assume that my definition of deliverance is correct, when in fact my definitions of many things spiritual are just plain faulty. So we really want to be careful as to not deciding that we're going to define things in a way that's comfortable. Rather, we need to define things in a way that is scriptural.

Julie (00:33:09): So we've already talked about the promise of peace. What else do God's promises promise?

Jonathan (00:33:15): Strength and deliverance through trial. Another inspiring promise of God for the footstep followers of Jesus is the verse in 1 Corinthians that tells us God's providence is an escape from our trials. What human being wouldn't want that?

Julie (00:33:32): So before we get into this, let's look at the context. The context of this verse is the Apostle Paul telling the Corinthian church to not make the same mistakes that Israel did after their exodus from Egypt. And Paul lists some of their failures, like how they craved evil things, their idolatry, their immorality, how they tempted God and their all-encompassing complaining. And Paul next writes in 1 Corinthians 10:12:

Jonathan (00:33:58): "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall." God's chosen people are just delivered from the clutches of sin, but not to a life of ease. Paul is warning the Corinthians and us, as spiritual Israelites, to not make the same mistakes they did.

Rick (00:34:17): So here we have the context before this verse. So perhaps when we look back at this context, Paul is saying that just as Israel was delivered from the evil slavery of Egypt, and they were therefore essentially homeless; let me pause there for a second. He delivered them out of slavery in Egypt and where to? The wilderness. No hotels, no anything, you are just out there. So He delivered them from slavery to this place where they absolutely had to depend on Him, and that was the key. So we have to look at ourselves now as we look at the context here. So we, having been delivered from the slavery of sin, are also in a sense homeless in this world and susceptible to the same kinds of failures that Israel experienced. So Paul's looking at them saying, don't get cocky when you look at them because you could fall into the same kinds of things. Now, here comes the big promise that the Apostle Paul says, here's what God has in store for you. And this is, make no mistake, this is a big promise. 1 Corinthians 10:13:

Jonathan (00:35:20): "No temptation" meaning "putting to proof, being tested." "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape..." Meaning "an exit;" "also, that you will be able to endure it." Meaning "to bear from underneath, to undergo hardship."

Julie (00:35:46): Okay, but hold on. We have a way of escape and a way of endure, and that's contradictory. How can both be true? If you've escaped something, how do you still bear the weight of it?

Jonathan (00:35:56): Well, this is why God's promises are not to be read lightly and just repeat it as some nice saying to hear. They need to be understood. And to answer your question, Julie, let's look at Romans 8:15-18, because "escaping" and "enduring" are both in these verses: "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba! Father! The spirit itself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

Julie (00:36:44): Hmm. So Jonathan, you said this Greek definition of this way of escape means "a literal or figurative exit." It sounds like you just suddenly get ejected from the difficult circumstance and you land on a bed of pillows somewhere, preferably with relaxing music and a lot of dark chocolate.

Jonathan (00:37:01): Ooh, yum.

Julie (00:37:02): It's an exit.

Rick (00:37:04): Yeah. However, but...

Julie (00:37:06): I know.

Rick (00:37:08): But look, here's the thing. Let's understand that. Why does God give promises to His chosen people now, to true Christians? So they can be developed to become like Christ. It's not so they can have an easy life. It's so they can be developed. And let me clue you, I've been at this for a really, really, really, really, really long time, and I am far from being developed. So it is not an easy thing. When we look at having a way of escape and enduring it, they seem to contradict each other. I would submit to you that the endurance is the way of escape. You learn to endure, you are given God's strength, God's perspective, God's providence, God's word, so that you can escape what would have been a catastrophic ending to these kinds of trials. That's how we want to balance this whole thing out. The way of escape is learning to embrace the experience as for our good. That's important; to learn to embrace the experience as for our good, and not have it dissolve into thin air. That's what we'd prefer. Like Lord, just make it go away. But to have the testing be of a priceless value in our lives. The point is the exit is not from the experience so much as it is from the end result. I think that's where we need to find the balance here.

Julie (00:38:30): Okay, but sometimes that's all we want is a literal way of escape. What's wrong with this prayer? "Lord, take this all away from me. I just can't do this anymore."

Jonathan (00:38:40): This reminds me of Christians who think it's acceptable to demand that God do something for them. You might hear or have heard the expression "decree and declare" or "name it and claim it," but this isn't how God's promises work.

Rick (00:38:56): No, no, it's not. And when you say, "God, just take this away from me, I can't do it anymore," that can be a prayer of exasperation, and I understand that. But when it gets to the point where we're telling God to take it away because "I've had enough, now just take it," that becomes an idolatrous prayer because we're now commanding God Almighty. And when you have those who say "decree and declare" and "name it and claim it," what you have is this audacity to be the one in control. That's not how God's promises work. We do not want to ever; Jesus never even did that! He never even did that. He's the one in the Garden of Gethsemane that said, "Lord, if possible remove this cup from me, but not my will, Yours be done." That should be the ending of that prayer, Julie, because that is the way Jesus did it. And if he did it that way, that's what we need to learn here.

Julie (00:39:57): Yeah. In Episode #1188, Jonathan, I think that's the one you're referring to, "Do We Have the Purpose of the Holy Spirit Backwards?" It was all about that right way and the wrong way to approach the promises of God. And we recommend getting those CQ Rewind show notes for this episode, and we're going to give a list of additional episodes for further study that are going to go into greater detail of what we've touched on here, like the Abrahamic promise, speaking in tongues, the holy spirit and more. So moving on, there is a way of escape, which we found out doesn't necessarily mean the trial ends, but there's also that "so you will be able to endure it." How is that second part accomplished?

Rick (00:40:37): Well, this all comes down to being properly equipped for whatever God's providence allows to come before us. You know, if you know there's a tragedy coming, you know there's something coming that you have to be prepared for, you get prepared ahead of time. This is what God's promises do. And let's take a look at God's ultimate preparation kit for us in Ephesians 6:10-13:

Jonathan (00:41:01): "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."

Julie (00:41:34): So another promise is that we have this strength through this armor, through His word and through these experiences. In other words, I'm not going to ask the Lord to erase this from my life's experience. I would pray, "Dear Lord, help me to be armed so I can face this experience with Your overruling providence." Is that a better prayer?

Rick (00:41:54): That is a much better prayer. And the way to live that better prayer is to dress the part.

Julie (00:42:02): Oh, okay.

Rick (00:42:03): Dress the part. Put on the armor. Don't go, don't leave home without the sword of the spirit or the breastplate of righteousness. And certainly don't leave your shield of faith in the closet. Take those things with you because they give us the capacity to be able to receive God's promises. And when He says that you will be able to bear it, He's saying to us, do your best and I will absolutely cover the rest. You just show up and I'll walk you through it. I will deliver you because I am your God. I said so and that means it's a fact that just hasn't been disclosed yet.

Jonathan (00:42:39): It's a promise for a refocused spiritual mind to handle whatever life brings us, in order for it to be a positive growing experience of character development and not a tragedy.

Julie (00:42:51): That's huge. Okay, so what else do God's promises promise the faithful followers of Jesus?

Jonathan (00:42:58): Belonging. Embracing the testing and God's provided way of escape are evidence of our fidelity to the call of Christ. That call of Christ is one of being invited into a new spiritual relationship, never before available. John 17:22-24: "The glory which You have given me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as we are one; I in them and You in me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent me, and loved them, even as You have loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given me, be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory which You have given me, for You loved me before the foundation of the world."

Julie (00:43:47): What a promise! Like this is an incredible opportunity. This is the promise of heavenly glory and immortality, to be one with the Father and Jesus in complete unity. It's unfathomable.

Rick (00:44:01): What's the catch?

Julie (00:44:03): Oh, what's the catch?

New Speaker (00:44:04): The catch is you have to live in a Christ-like way. You have to follow in his footsteps. And his footsteps did not walk a nice, rosy, easy path. His footsteps walked through trauma and trial and difficulty and testing and pushed him to the limits. Why should we expect anything less, having been given such an amazing level of promise? What a way to belong though. To be with him, "I want them to be with me where I am." This was his last prayer, his last undisturbed prayer before his life ended. And what does he spend it doing? Praying for us. Think about this. Think about the depth of what this promise is saying. It reminds me in terms of belonging of another promise in 1 Corinthians 3:21, 23:

Jonathan (00:44:53): "So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God."

Rick (00:45:02): "You belong to Christ. Christ belongs to God." That's a yay and amen statement. How is that possible? By walking in Jesus' footsteps. What's another result of walking in Jesus' footsteps? Well, another promise in 2 Corinthians 6:18:

Jonathan (00:45:18): "And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty." What a powerful family connection. God's spirit within us provides this unique relationship.

Julie (00:45:33): This isn't just for anyone who has that "I love Jesus" coffee mug on their desk, is it though? This is the depth of the promise of God. This is as big as it gets; to actually be with God and Christ in heaven.

Rick (00:45:46): To have God call you his son, and to be the brother of Jesus? It is. But again, the promises are not freebies. They are given freely. But we must stand up and reach for them with the greatest spiritual effort that we can. Being a True Promise Seeker from the Great Promise Keeper, Jonathan, what do we have?

Jonathan (00:46:12): God's promises are comprehensive. They will positively affect every aspect of our lives, but only if we position ourselves to be able to receive them. God's strength and deliverance in our lives depends on our seeing our experiences through His eyes and using His tools. This will only happen when we truly belong to God through Christ.

Rick (00:46:38): Only when we truly belong to God through Christ. How do you belong to God through Christ? It's not just in your words, it's in your thoughts, in your actions, and it's in the trail that you leave behind you. It's in those that are in front of you that you embrace. It's in always looking up in prayer. It's in keeping things in order so that God's will can flow through you so that others can be blessed by it. It's inspiring and encouraging to realize the personal care and attention we are given by God through Christ. I mean, how blessed are we?

Jonathan (00:47:15): We have seen God's promises that we will have peace, strength, deliverance, and belonging. What else does He promise?

Rick (00:47:25): While all that we have seen thus far is inspiring, it's important to realize that we can only scratch the surface of the depth of His care for us. There is so much more. Now in an attempt to merely introduce a few of the many other ways God's promises guide our lives, we're going to take a look at Psalm 91 as an inspirational and comforting example.

Julie (00:47:54): The promises so far have been amazing, and they're so much bigger and better than what we have to do in order to qualify for them, so what else do God's promises promise to the faithful followers of Jesus? What else could there be?

Jonathan (00:48:08): Let's look at Psalm 91 as a whole to see the kinds of promises that are given to God's people. We know these were for Israel and it applies also to spiritual Israel. Let's look at the promise of protection and instruction, starting with Psalm 91:1-2: "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust!"

Julie (00:48:38): A fortress provides safety and defense. So when we are accepted as God's children, we come under Divine protection through Christ. But there's the catch. We have to live in that shelter of protection. That has to be our address.

Rick (00:48:53): That's right. We have to be there. Protection comes when we go to the place where the protection lives. I mean, it's really that simple. You want to stray away and say, okay, God, come with me. I don't think so. If you walk outside of His providence, you walk outside of His protection. Along with protection comes instruction. Psalm 32:8, another promise:

Jonathan (00:49:15): "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you."

Rick (00:49:22): Think about what that is saying. "I'm going to teach you." We know that we can take this very literally because Jesus told his disciples the night before he died, God's very spirit is going to dwell within you. His power and His influence will be guiding you and teaching us. So that Psalm 32 is obviously a promise that applies to the true church. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. In other words, I'm watching you. And it's not like, "I'm watching you!" It's "I'm watching you because I love you." There's a big difference between those two things.

Julie (00:49:59): What else? What else do God's promises promise?

Jonathan (00:50:04): Deliverance from evil. Continuing in Psalm 91 with verses 3-4: "For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions (meaning feathers), and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark."

Julie (00:50:24): What a beautiful picture. I mean, you can just imagine getting under these beautiful wings so that nothing can befall you. This "snare of the trapper" is the deceptions of Satan. And again, the only safety is living at the right address, staying near to the Lord. It's the only safe retreat.

Rick (00:50:41): It is. And when we live that way and we live as Christians armed with the "armor of God," we are protected because we are seeking protection. That's where deliverance from evil comes. Now here's the other thing. Another part of deliverance from evil is sometimes there's things that we don't even understand that happen that are evil, but God's got that in control as well. Let's look at Psalm 34:7:

Jonathan (00:51:04): "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them."

Rick (00:51:09): So you've got this sense of, okay, sometimes you're going to do the best you can and the enemy is still overwhelming. And so God has His angels taking care of those things that we can't manage and sometimes that we don't even know about. You know, sometimes I wonder after, if we are faithful and you're in heaven and your guardian angel says to you, Jonathan, I've just got to tell you how much of an effort we had to put in to keep you protected.

Jonathan (00:51:39): I'm excited.

Julie (00:51:39): We're a real problem.

Jonathan (00:51:40): That conversation, Rick.

Rick (00:51:41): But you know, that's the beauty of God's providence. It's the beauty of His providence saying, I have got you and I've got those who I am sending to watch out for you out there to protect you. So His promises do give us a deliverance. He promises us a deliverance from evil.

Julie (00:52:00): What do God's promises promise the true Christian? What else do we have?

Jonathan (00:52:03): Courage. Psalm 91:5-10: "You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day; of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the Lord, my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent."

Rick (00:52:39): You look at these verses and you see all of this stacked upon, one thing upon another. And this is a promise of great courage and kind of reminds me of a little kid who maybe has some bullying issues. So he brings his big brother along. Now he doesn't bring his big brother along to go fight his battles, but he brings his big brother along as support so he can stand up and learn how to fight his own battles.

Julie (00:53:03): That last sentence Jonathan, "No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent." That's a little curious to me. I recall a lot of Christians being plagued with Covid 19. So how, what is this guarantee that we're never going to get sick? That can't be right.

Rick (00:53:21): Well, and when you look at that, "No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent." I think the sense is it will not overwhelm you. It will not overcome you. You will have to be courageous. This whole section is not saying you are impervious to bad things. It doesn't say that there will not be terror by night. It doesn't say there will not be arrows that fly by day, or it doesn't say there won't be pestilence that stalks in darkness or destruction that lays waste at noon. It doesn't say those things won't be. It says you will not be afraid of them. And what that is saying is in God's strength through His spirit, these things do come and they are part of your life, but you can stand above them. When "no evil befalls you" means it doesn't overtake you because you are standing in grace and His strength. No plague will come to your tent. The darkness of sin will not overrun you because you are standing in the place that you belong. So let's take a look now. Let's go to a New Testament application of this courage in 2 Corinthians 4:7-10:

Jonathan (00:54:25): "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifest in our body."

Julie (00:54:52): This whole thing is a reframe. It's just like that way of escape we talked about. This isn't where you press an "easy button" and it all goes away. It's not promising to remove our afflictions, but they won't crush us. That's what you were saying, Rick. We may be struck down, but we won't be destroyed. So reframing our circumstances helps us to take a step back and look at that situation from a higher perspective to see its higher purpose.

Rick (00:55:17): And if you notice, the last verse there, "always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body." Remember when we looked at the Psalm scripture in Psalm 91:5-10, it's like a little kid brings his big brother along? But who's our big brother? It's Jesus. "Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, so the life of Jesus is manifest." He's with us. He helps us to have the courage and the strength to stand up to all of these difficult things that come our way.

Julie (00:55:45): Wow. Okay. So what do God's promises promise, Jonathan?

Jonathan (00:55:50): Assurance. Psalm 91:11-13: "For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down." Now it's interesting, Satan quoted verses 11 and 12 to Jesus during the temptations in the wilderness, right after Jesus was baptized. Isn't it ironic that Satan didn't quote verse 13, which shows he will be destroyed? Remember Peter refers to him as a roaring lion, and that's in 1 Peter 5:8 and in Genesis 2:15, he was a serpent whose head will be crushed--a fatal blow.

Rick (00:56:38): Yeah. You know, this is a classic example of selective scripture reading by Satan. He quotes this, okay, here's a promise of God for you. And yet the next verse prophesies his own destruction. And look, it's a lesson for us. We can say, yeah, that's kind of humorous. But let's take the lesson very seriously. Do not engage in selective scripture reading to fulfill some kind of predetermined notion of what God's promises should do for you. Rather read the scriptures in the context in which they're given so we can determine what God's intention is for His promises, so we can benefit from them instead. Let's look at Romans 8, and the end of Romans 8 is a powerful, powerful group of promises. We could spend two podcasts on just these few verses. We're just going to touch on Romans 8 right now. We're going to touch on verses 28 and 35:

Jonathan (00:57:32): "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose...Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Julie (00:57:50): Talk about selective scripture reading, I've heard Christians quote only that first part of Romans 8:28, "God causes all things to work together for good," and they stop there. But the qualifier is it's for "those who love God and are called according to His purpose."

Jonathan (00:58:07): The question is, did you answer that call? Have you given up your will to do God's will? If so, this promise is for you.

Rick (00:58:17): If so, this promise is for you. We need to understand, and this is a very powerful promise. I will have everything work together for your good because you are My child. I've given you My spirit, and therefore I will walk you through life as long as you continue to rely on Me. That's God talking to us through this promise. "Who will separate us from the love of Christ?" And he lists all these things. And the answer is, none of those things can if you are walking in Christ and your life is about Christ.

Julie (00:58:47): So what do God's promises promise? I think there's at least one more.

Jonathan (00:58:52): Hope and reward. Psalm 91:14-16: "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him and let him see My salvation." So what are the qualifiers for this promise? First, we love God. Second, we know His name. And third, we call upon Him. Then He will deliver us and set us securely on high.

Rick (00:59:29): So it's like there's this two-way communication that has to happen and God is ready to answer, but we have to be asking. We have to be open. We have to have the communication channel uncluttered with other things, so that we can receive such a promise of hope and reward. And when you think about the kind of hope and the kind of reward that Psalm 91 gives us, whatever our life brings, it's absolutely worth it. It is absolutely worth it because our life is a moment versus an eternity of this hope and reward in Christ. Let's look at one last New Testament scripture. Again, Romans 8 that really focuses in on the hope and reward. Romans 8:38-39:

Jonathan (01:00:14): "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord."

Rick (01:00:31): Nothing created can separate us from the love of God if we choose to stay there. The only thing not on this list is me. I'm the only one that can separate me from the love of God, because whatever comes into my life, if I have God's spirit and I am working toward letting that spirit run and rule my life and have that humility and that prayerful approach and come to the throne of grace, I can be delivered; not from the trials, but from the end result of disaster in the trials. That's how deliverance works. Finally, Jonathan, being a True Promise Seeker from the Great Promise Keeper:

Jonathan (01:01:14): God's promises are all encompassing. He gives them to Jesus's disciples as tools of living. All of the instruction and protection and deliverance and courage and assurance and hope and reward He promises are there not to rescue us from our life's experiences and tragedies, but to walk us through them. In so doing, He prepares us for an eternity of heavenly life and loyalty to Him.

Rick (01:01:43): That is an amazing story right there. And remember that these are the promises given to true Christians, and there is a whole other set of promises given to the world in the resurrection. They are given the promise of prosperity and hope and happiness and sinlessness and deathlessness, all when they get themselves in line with the will and the ways of God through Christ. But for now, and for here in this age, these are the promises given to the true church. One last look at God giving us promise. Hebrews 10:35-36: "Therefore, do not throw away your confidence." Now, we've heard all of these things and you have been given so much to be thankful for and to look forward to. "Do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised." "When you've done the will of God." Now look, we can do it and we can fall and we can fail, and we can get up and ask for forgiveness and God counts that as having done it. I know you messed it up, but you're My child. I love you and I know you're trying hard. Get up and do it again. Get up and do it again. And this is the promise that I give you. The promise of My providence and My grace and My love and My care and My direction. That's how God works in the life of a Christian. What are we going to do about it? Think about it. Folks listen, we love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next episode, we've talked about God's promises. Our question, "Are My Promises Reliable?" Talk to you next week.

Final notes (01:03:33): copyright @2023 Christian Questions. In addition to this transcript, we provide comprehensive CQ Rewind Show Notes for every episode. They include every scripture quoted during the podcast, as well as graphics, illustrations and bonus material. Click the "CQ Rewind Show Notes" button near the audio player or sign up to receive these weekly at ChristianQuestions.com. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence. While we believe it to be accurate, we apologize for any errors that may exist.